Notes: The Spartans are in a five-way tie for first place halfway through the league schedule. Others at the top are Florida Gulf Coast, Mercer, Jacksonville and Stetson. East Tennessee State and Northern Kentucky are just two games back. …USC Upstate has won three straight, all at home, and by an average of 13 points. The Spartans on Monday beat East Tennessee State, 88-71, after trailing at the half. …Lipscomb is coming off a 71-65 loss at home against Mercer. The Bison won on the road Jan. 17 at league-leading Florida Gulf Coast, which beat USC Upstate in Spartanburg a week earlier. …Alexander is a hometown product from Nashville through East Mississippi Community College. …Hurt, from Murfreesboro, Tenn., is a 6-foot-10, 285-pound center. He is second in the league in rebounding, while Glenn is now the leader. Glenn had a 15-rebound game Jan. 24 against North Florida. He also is second in field-goal percentage at .596 after going 7-for-7 against ETSU. …Lipscomb head coach Scott Sanderson, son of former Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson, has been with the team 14 years as its only head coach in the Division I era. …USC Upstate routed Lipscomb, 98-61, on Jan. 7 and made 15 shots from 3-point range. It was the Spartans' largest margin of victory in a league game since joining the A-Sun in 2007 and most 3-pointers by any team in a conference game this season. …Greene is averaging 16.9 points in the past eight games. …USC Upstate ranks second in the league with 71.3 points per game. Lipscomb has allowed a league-worst 77.1 points per game. …Craig has dropped to second in the individual scoring category at 17.1 points per game. Markeith Cummings of Kennesaw State leads with 17.7.

Next: USC Upstate will finish its rare five-game home stretch at 5 p.m. Saturday against Northern Kentucky. The Spartans will then head to Florida to face Stetson on Feb. 7 and Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 9. Preseason league favorite Mercer comes to Spartanburg on Feb. 14.

<p><b>Lipscomb at USC Upstate</p><p>When: </b>7 p.m. Thursday</p><p><b>Where: </b>Hodge Center</p><p><b>Records: </b>Lipscomb (8-12, 3-6 Atlantic Sun Conference); USC Upstate (12-10, 6-3)</p><p><b>Radio: </b>1400 AM, 97.1 FM</p><p><b>Top scorers:</b> Lipscomb — Sr. G Deonte Alexander (12.3 ppg.); So. F Malcolm Smith (12.3 ppg); Fr. C Stephen Hurt (11.7 ppg., 8.2 rpg.); So. F Martin Smith (10.2 ppg.). USC Upstate — Jr. F Torrey Craig (17.1 ppg., 6.6 rpg.); So. G Ty Greene (13.0 ppg., 54 assists); Jr. F Ricardo Glenn (9.9 ppg., 8.4 rpg.); So. G Adrian Rodgers (9.0 ppg.)</p><p><b>Notes: </b>The Spartans are in a five-way tie for first place halfway through the league schedule. Others at the top are Florida Gulf Coast, Mercer, Jacksonville and Stetson. East Tennessee State and Northern Kentucky are just two games back. …USC Upstate has won three straight, all at home, and by an average of 13 points. The Spartans on Monday beat East Tennessee State, 88-71, after trailing at the half. …Lipscomb is coming off a 71-65 loss at home against Mercer. The Bison won on the road Jan. 17 at league-leading Florida Gulf Coast, which beat USC Upstate in Spartanburg a week earlier. …Alexander is a hometown product from Nashville through East Mississippi Community College. …Hurt, from Murfreesboro, Tenn., is a 6-foot-10, 285-pound center. He is second in the league in rebounding, while Glenn is now the leader. Glenn had a 15-rebound game Jan. 24 against North Florida. He also is second in field-goal percentage at .596 after going 7-for-7 against ETSU. …Lipscomb head coach Scott Sanderson, son of former Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson, has been with the team 14 years as its only head coach in the Division I era. …USC Upstate routed Lipscomb, 98-61, on Jan. 7 and made 15 shots from 3-point range. It was the Spartans' largest margin of victory in a league game since joining the A-Sun in 2007 and most 3-pointers by any team in a conference game this season. …Greene is averaging 16.9 points in the past eight games. …USC Upstate ranks second in the league with 71.3 points per game. Lipscomb has allowed a league-worst 77.1 points per game. …Craig has dropped to second in the individual scoring category at 17.1 points per game. Markeith Cummings of Kennesaw State leads with 17.7.</p><p><b>Next: </b>USC Upstate will finish its rare five-game home stretch at 5 p.m. Saturday against Northern Kentucky. The Spartans will then head to Florida to face Stetson on Feb. 7 and Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 9. Preseason league favorite Mercer comes to Spartanburg on Feb. 14.</p>